Friday, April 25, 2014

Bible Truths for Seventh-Day Adventists (SDA), part 8; SDA rejection of the succession of true (Baptist) churches, SDA Allegorization of Biblical Prophecy, and a Conclusion to the Whole Matter

14.) The true church has existed from the first century until today, since Christ promised: “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18), and “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Mt 28:20). God would get “glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end” (Eph 3:21). Because of the promises of God, the church has preserved pure worship and practices, based only on the Bible (2 Tim 3:16-17; Deut 12:32), since Christ founded her, and her Savior will preserve her until He comes again (1 Cor 11:26). Consequently, Roman Catholic “churches” cannot be Christ’s true churches because they deny His gospel and are filled with all kinds of heresy; furthermore, no churches believed many of the doctrines of modern Roman Catholicism for centuries after the Lord Jesus started His church.[1] Protestant “churches” cannot be Christ’s true churches because they teach unbiblical doctrines and did not exist for the first 75% of church history.[2] Seventh-Day Adventist “churches” cannot be Christ’s true churches because they deny the true gospel, are filled with many false doctrines, and did not exist for the first 90% of church history. In contrast, Baptist churches have believed and practiced Biblical truth in its purity and have existed from the first century until today, preserved for 2,000 years by Jesus Christ, their Founder and Head. Known under different names through the centuries, martyred, tortured, and persecuted by Catholicism, Protestantism, and the other false religions of the world, Baptists have gone under different names through the centuries, such as Waldenses, Donatists, Cathari, and Anabaptists. Non-Baptist historians have admitted that the Baptists are not Protestants, but far predate the Reformation, having existed even from the times of the Apostles: “If the truth of religion were to be judged by the readiness and boldness of which a man of any sect shows in suffering, then the opinion and persuasion of no sect can be truer and surer than that of the Anabaptists since there have been none for these twelve hundred years past, that have been more generally punished” (Cardinal Hosius (Catholic, appointed president of the Council of Trent, A. D. 1560).[3] “The true origin of that sect which acquired the name of Anabaptists, by their administering anew the rite of baptism to those who came over to their communion . . . is hid in the remote depths of antiquity, and is consequently extremely difficult to be ascertained” (Mosheim (Lutheran).[4] “[The Baptists] descended from the tolerably pure evangelical Waldenses. . . . They were, therefore, in existence long before the Reformed Church . . . We have seen that the Baptists, who were formerly called Anabaptists . . . were the original Waldenses; and who have long in the history of the Church, received the honor of that origin. On this account the Baptists may be considered the only Christian community which has stood since the Apostles; and as a Christian society which has preserved pure the doctrine of the gospel through all ages” (Dr. J. J. Durmont & Dr. Ypeig (Reformed).[5] Concerning the pre-reformation Baptists known as the Waldenses, even Ellen White admitted: “In lands beyond the jurisdiction of Rome, there existed for many centuries bodies of Christians who remained almost wholly free from papal corruption . . . they continued to regard the Bible as the only rule of faith . . . of those who resisted the encroachments of the papal power, the Waldenses stood foremost . . . Theirs was not a faith newly received. Their religious belief was their inheritance from their fathers. They contended for the faith of the apostolic church.”[6]

[Note: the text below is footnote #6 in the pamphlet, but was placed here in the text proper because of its relevance.]

Mrs. White, however, also claims that the Waldenses were Saturday worshippers. This assertion, however, is simply false, and blatantly so—all objective historians recognize that they worshipped on the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day. Indeed, even SDA historians concede this fact. Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., late professor of church history and theology at the SDA Andrews University, who wrote his doctoral thesis on the history of Saturday and Sunday worship, admitted:

Did some of the Waldenses observe the Sabbath? I . . . search[ed] for an answer in the . . . scholarly volumes . . . published . . . [by] the official Italina Waldensian publishing house . . . regarded as the most comprehensive history of the Waldenses. To my regret, I found no allusion whatsoever to Sabbathkeeping among the Waldenses. . . . The same search for historical evidences of Sabbathkeeping among the Waldenses has been conducted by other Adventist scholars. . . . Unfortunately . . . no connection to Sabbathkeeping [has been found]. . . . [T]here are . . . inaccuracies in The Great Controversy that ought to be corrected. (Endtime Issues, 87, August 1, 2002)

In fact, historians recognize that “the Waldenses . . . observed no other day of rest than Sunday; whence they were named ‘Insabbathas,’ regarders not of the Sabbaths.” (pg. 25, History of the Ancient Christians Inhabiting the Valleys of the Alps, J. P. Perrin). Hence, their enemies testified that the Waldensian belief was: “[W]e are to cease from working on no day except the Lord’s day [Sunday] (Æneas Sylvius, c. A. D.1300, cited on pg. 241, Some Remarks upon the Ecclesiastical History of the Ancient Churches of Piedmont, P. Allix).

The Waldensians also believed in the conscious bliss of the saved and conscious torment of the lost, rejecting the SDA doctrine of “soul-sleep.” In the words of the Waldensian Confession of Faith, dated A. D. 1120: “[W]e believe that after this life, there are only two places, the one for the saved, and the other for the damned, the which two places we call paradise and hell” (Article IX, cited on pg. 378, The Waldenses: Sketches of the Evangelical Christians of the Valleys of Piedmont, A. W. Mitchell). The ancient enemies of the Waldenses recognized: “According to them, there is no purgatory, and all that die, immediately pass either into heaven or hell” (Reinerius, c. A. D. 1200). “The souls of the deceased are[,] [confess the Waldenses,] either immediately plunged into hell, or advanced to eternal joys” (Roman Inquisition, c. A. D. 1300; see pgs. 32, 45, The History of the Christian Church, from the Birth of Christ to the Eighteenth Century, Including the Very Interesting Account of the Waldenses and Albigenses, vol. 2, W. Jones).

The Waldenses rejected the SDA doctrine of salvation by works, professing instead the Baptist and Biblical doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone apart from works. In the words of the Catechism of the Ancient Waldenses for the Instruction of their Youth, Composed inthe 13th Century: “[T]hat foundation . . . by the which every one may enter into life . . . [is] [t]he Lord Jesus Christ . . . By what means may a man come to this foundation? By faith, as saith St. Peter, 1 Pet. 2:6, ‘Behold, I lay in Sion a chief-corner stone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.’ And the Lord saith, ‘He that believeth hath eternal life.’” The Waldensian Catechism goes on to affirm the eternal security of the believer based on his eternal election: “[A]ll the elect of God, from the beginning of the world to the end, by the grace of God through the merit of Christ, [are] gathered together by the Holy Spirit, and fore-ordained to eternal life” (cited from pgs. 379-381, The Waldenses: Sketches of the Evangelical Christians of the Valleys of Piedmont, A. W. Mitchell). The Waldenses still held the Baptist and rejected the SDA doctrine of sin and salvation a few centuries later when they confessed their belief in the total depravity of the sinner, in justification by grace alone through faith alone, totally apart from works, and in eternal security:

[A]ll the posterity of Adam is guilty of his disobedience, and infected by his corruption, and fallen into the same calamity with him, even the very infants from their mothers’ womb, whence is derived the word of original sin. . . . [T]he Lord having fully and absolutely reconciled us unto God, through the blood of his cross, by virtue of his merit only, and not of our works, we are thereby absolved and justified in his sight . . . his blood . . . cleanses us from all sin. . . . [W]e are united with Christ, and made partakers of all his benefits by faith, trusting and confiding wholly to those promises of life which are given us in the gospel. . . . [A]ll the elect are upheld and preserved by the power of God in such sort, that they all persevere in the faith unto the end. (pgs. 387-389, ibid)

Historians recognize that “the Waldensian formularies . . . hold . . . the doctrine of justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ alone . . . and of the final perseverance of the saints” (pg. 375, ibid). The Waldenses were Baptists, not Seventh-Day Adventists.

[End of footnote #6.]

Seventh-Day Adventism rejects Christ’s promise of church perpetuity by affirming that “Satan has taken full possession of the churches.”[7] Christians who are not SDAs are “are worse than heathen . . . savages.”[8] The truth supposedly needed to be restored by the SDA movement in the 19th century. SDAs allegorize and misinterpret the book of Revelation to conclude that the first and second angelic messages of Revelation 14 were being fulfilled in 1844,[9] and now in the SDA movement the truth was “restored to the last true church,” with the “seal of God” of the Sabbath and the “second distinguishing mark” of “the Spirit of Prophecy”[10] in Mrs. White’s writings.

[The text below is footnote #9 in the pamphlet.]

Nobody who simply read Revelation 14:6-12 would conclude that the passage speaks of events in the 1840s in the eastern United States. They are self-evidently about actual messages given by actual heavenly angels. However, Mrs. White and the SDA movement allegorize an “angel fly[ing] in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” to not really be about a heavenly angel flying with a message for every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, but about William Miller and his 1844 predictions of the end of the world that far less than 1% of the world ever heard about, and which reached practically none of the nations, kindreds, tongues, and people of the world. For that matter, the SDA movement only gets its crucial 1844 date by allegorizing and misinterpreting Daniel 8:14. The prophet Daniel predicted the “two thousand and three hundred days” between the time that the Jewish High Priest Onias I was murdered and a false line of priests assumed power in 171 B. C., events that culminated in the desecration of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and the death, 2,300 literal days later, of Antiochus Epiphanes in 164 B. C. However, the SDA movement claims that the “days” are not really days but are years, a period of years which ended on “the great Day of Atonement . . . in the year 1844 . . . upon the twenty-second of October” (Pg. 400, The Great Controversy, Ellen White), even though the Day of Atonement in 1844 was not even on October 22 but was on September 23 (cf. pg. 25, A Jewish Calendar for sixty-for Years, detailing the new moons, festivals, and fasts . . . together with the corresponding Christian Dates, 1838). SDAs also deny the plain meaning of Daniel 8:14 by claiming that the verse is not about the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem but is an allegory concerning events in Christianity.

Contrary to the allegorization of prophecy practiced by the SDA denomination, Biblical prophecies are always fulfilled literally. The Bible predicted Christ would be born in Bethlehem, and He was born in the literal city of Bethlehem (Mic 5:2; Lu 2:4-7). The Bible predicted Christ’s virgin birth, and He was born of a literal virgin (Is 7:14; Mt 1:23). The Bible predicted the Messiah would enter Jerusalem sitting on a donkey, and Christ entered Jerusalem sitting on a literal donkey (Zech 9:9; Mr 11:7-11). The Bible predicted that Cyrus, the Persian king, would let Israel return from exile and rebuild Jerusalem, and that is literally and exactly what happened (Is 44:28; Ezr 1:1ff.). The Bible predicted that Jericho would be rebuilt by a man who would have his eldest son die when reconstruction began and his youngest son die when the work reached completion, and that is exactly what happened (Jos 6:26; I Ki 16:33-34). About 2,000 Biblical prophecies have been fulfilled literally in this way. There is no reason to allegorize predictions about the future in the book of Revelation and make them “predict” something other than what they actually say. Biblical prophecies that have already taken place have been fulfilled literally, and those about the future will also be fulfilled literally. The SDA denomination actually has adopted its allegorical, non-literal method of “interpreting” Bible prophecy from the interpretive system of Roman Catholicism, and must maintain it, despite its destruction of the actually predictive character of prophecy, because of the “inspired” statements of Ellen White.

[End of footnote #9.]

Dear Seventh-Day Adventist friend, have you received the gospel? Now is the time for you to receive salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. This very moment you must turn from your sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone. He will save you and give you eternal life. You can know you are saved from your sins and from damnation; you can have genuine communion with the living God and a truly holy life based on grace and love, not legalism and self-effort; and you can know God will keep you saved so that you will be certain of a blessed eternity in heaven, not eternal torment in the lake of fire. “[B]ehold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). Nothing could be more important: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mr 8:36). Trust Christ immediately!

God also calls on you to separate from the false religion of Seventh-Day Adventism and unite yourself to a true church of Christ (Heb 10:25). Joining a true church will not save you from any sin—“the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:7)—but God also calls His people to be true worshippers (Jn 4:23), and they obey because they love Him (Jn 14:15; 1 Cor 16:22). The Lord commands you to separate from all false religion: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph 5:11). “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor 6:17-18). Today is the day to separate from Seventh-Day Adventism and to begin to worship God in Biblical purity.

For more information, including evidence that the Bible is the Word of God, or for a free home Bible study, available in person or by mail, that explains more about salvation and other Biblical truths, visit, call, or write to:

http://faithsaves.net

http://mukwonagobaptist.org

Faithsaves.net has special resources dealing with evidence for the Bible and for creation to help atheists, agnostics, and others skeptical about Scripture, as well as material specifically for Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians and other Reformed believers, Muslims, Jews, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other non-Trinitarians, Seventh-Day Adventists and other Sabbatarians, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, and members of other religions.

[2]See “Bible Truths for Lutheran Friends” and “The Truth of Salvation for Presbyterian and Reformed Friends” at http://faithsaves.nhet/different-religions/, and “Bible Study #7: The Church of Jesus Christ” at http://faithsaves.net/Bible-studies/.

[3]This Catholic cardinal, living at the time of the Reformation, admitted that the Baptists had been around since A. D. 360. Allowing them an origin any earlier would make his position very uncomfortable.

[8]Pg. 334, Manuscript Releases, vol. 17. Mrs. White also advocated SDAs conceal their view that Christians are worse than pagan savages: “[W]e consider them heathen. In truth they are worse than heathen, but this we are not to tell them,” because it would “close up the way before us” and make people less likely to convert to the SDA denomination. Contrast 2 Cor 4:2.

1 comment:

I have seen Adventists cull quotes from secondary sources that at least appear to support the existence of Sabbatarian Waldenses, but I have never had them give me a single primary source where a Waldensian confession of faith, or even an individual Waldensian, denied first day worship for seventh-day worship.

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